G-Cat Purr To Victory In Donington GT Cup Thriller
G-Cat Racing grabbed a superb first victory of their 2023 GT Cup Championship season, sharing success with Hugo Cook in a thrilling opening day of racing at Donington Park.
The penultimate meeting of the season meant titles were being closed in on with just eight races remaining, and the first two of those encounters proved to be spectacular as Cook fended off Tom Roche in Saturday's Sprint Race and G-Cat Racing held off the chasing opposition to take the Endurance Race in their Porsche 911 GT3R.
GTC was dominated by the massively in-form Topcats Racing duo of Gilbert Yates and Charlotte Gilbert, while Kendall Developments - leading the overall Drivers' Championship - had to fight for their double GTO success against a spirited National Motorsport Academy team.
Chris Hart denied Racelab a double in GTH meanwhile with a determined drive to catch and pass the latter's McLaren Artura, which responded later in the afternoon with a win in the 50-minute second outing.
Qualifying
The main action on Saturday kicked off with a brace of Qualifying sessions to decide the grid, and J&S Racing youngster Cook showed his pace with a pair of rapid laps in the final minutes to surge to the top spot.
Pole position for a while looked to be going the way of the Orange Racing with JMH McLaren 720S GT3 of Roche, who held his place at the summit for much of the session before narrowly missing out by just 0.197s with returnee Iain Campbell (McLaren) third ahead of Darren Leung's Century Motorsport BMW.
Fastest in GTC was the Topcats Racing Lamborghini Huracan, while GTO spoils were taken by Jay Shepherd after a brilliant lap pumped in late on put the National Motorsport Academy's Lotus Evora ahead of championship leader Paul Bailey.
Debutant Callum Davies shone brightly in GTH for Racelab to go almost seven-tenths quicker than the in-form Hart, while the latter's Morpheus Racing team-mate Jon Currie made up the top three in the competitive group.
Sprint Race
Cook and Roche manned their respective machines for the opening 25-minute race of the weekend in Leicester. What they soon served up was a treat, as the pair went head-to-head on track in an intense contest for the spoils.
Cook made his early break but could never escape the tight grip of Roche's McLaren, as the latter chased relentlessly and hunted for a gap to pounce on his rival throughout the race. A small look on the inside into the penultimate hairpin was not quite enough for Roche who slithered slightly wide, but soon the ex-Mazda champion was back within range.
Cook kept his man at arm's length despite Roche grabbing the fastest lap and pole for the Endurance Race late in the encounter, closing right in into the Foggy Esses but narrowly being rebuffed by his Audi rival, Cook holding on for victory by just 0.5s.
Behind them was an equally entertaining battle for the final place on the GT3 podium. Leung gave chase to Campbell's Racelab McLaren and set up an attack heading out of the final corner in the early laps, before superbly rounding his man at Redgate on the outside to put the Century BMW driver third - a week after winning at Brands Hatch with co-driver Dan Harper.
Topcats Racing were untroubled in GTC thanks to an exemplary performance by winner Charlotte Gilbert, but the situation in GTO was anything but straightforward for victor, Bailey. The Kendall Developments driver was given the chance to grab the lead when Richard Chamberlain retired with water pump problems and the National Motorsport Academy Evora started from the pit lane.
Despite Shepherd giving chase of the Lamborghini man, even a last-corner moment for Bailey would not be enough to help as the championship leader took the win ahead of his Lotus rival for more crucial points.
GTH was also a nail-biter from lights to flag. From pole position, Davies looked in good shape as he held the lead of the race in the opening half, but the looming Hart would not be deterred as he closed the gap to almost nothing in the final minutes. With his target locked in, Hart sent a crucial move on his rival at McLeans on the outside to grasp the lead with three minutes on the clock, holding on from a spirited attack by Davies heading to the line as the Morpheus Racing man took victory by a mere 0.2s. Phillip Carter continued his fine form also in third in the group for Greystone GT.
Pit Stop Race
After a fine spectacle in the early afternoon, fans would not be disappointed by the 50-minute Endurance Race that followed later in the day.
Starting from pole position, Simon Orange started the #67 McLaren hoping to go one better for the Orange Racing with JMH squad, and he kept a determined Campbell at bay in a close early stint while Leung again moved forward - passing Sacha Kakad's Audi R8 for third place.
After a safety car interruption and a flurry of pit stops, the success seconds dished out down the GT3 field played into the hands of the Porsche 911 of Shamus Jennings, who handed the G-Cat machine over to Greg Caton in the race lead with a cushion of 12 seconds on the restart over Roche and Harper - now in the Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
What followed was a sensational finish to the race. Harper caught the Roche McLaren swiftly, but could not find his way past the #67. Roche consistently rebuffed attacks at the penultimate hairpin on no fewer than three occasions, braving it on the outside of Craner Curves at one stage to hang on for second.
Ahead, Caton's pace was strong and he and Jennings could come home victorious for the first time in '23, Roche taking second from Harper.
GTC again went to Yates and Gilbert to complete a clean sweep of Saturday in the group, while GTO almost went the way of the NMA Lotus. Shepherd drove a fine race to lead for much of the contest, but Bailey's co-driver Ross Wylie carved into the group lead and soon overhauled the Evora to win in class again in the unrestricted Lamborghini.
GTH this time did go the way of Racelab who gained revenge with victory for Davies and Jon Lancaster. Their strategy played perfectly after a strong Davies stint, the group podium rounded out by Paddock Motorsport's new McLaren Artura and the #69 Morpheus Racing Mercedes of Hart and Stephen Walton.
#33 Greg Caton
“I wasn’t sure where I was and I heard that I was in the lead when I went out which I was expecting to be somewhere near because the safety car played a little bit into our hand. I knew we had a slightly shorter pitstop compared to the others but I thought that they would probably be a chunk quicker than me - a few of the Pro guys behind me. I knew they were coming but I didn’t know by how much or where they were so I was concentrated on putting a good stint in. The traffic wasn’t too bad, we lost a few seconds here and there. I’ve done enough driving, not necessarily with these guys or this level, to deal be able to deal with traffic calmly and sensibly. The car was good, on the limit a few times but it was good!"
#32 Hugo Cook
“It started off great, I got a good start but the actual lights didn’t go out - there was just no lights - so I was like ‘when do I go?’ So I just went, he just had his nose in front but I watched him brake and then I braked! Got in the lead, I think there was a second-and-a-half gap and then hit the traffic and we were really quick in sectors one and two and then in three I just couldn’t stop the car. At the end I thought ‘What’s the bias?’ because I always check the bias and then for some reason for this race I just got in and didn’t check because I thought it would be fine after qualifying. We were so rearward on the bias and that explains why it took so much to stop, Tom gained so much on us under braking."
#67 Tom Roche
“It was very hard work! Dan is so fast and I know he’s a world-class driver. I raced him in Carrera Cup and I know how fast he was so I can’t say I was looking forward to it when I saw he was in my mirrors! I thought if I don’t make a mistake and I keep putting the car in the right place he can’t really drive round the outside of me so it was a long 20 minutes! Racing someone like Dan, you know he’s always in control and always going to be fair so it gives you the confidence. When we were side-by-side down the Craners I left him a car width, turned in flat out and hoped it was going to stick!"
#69 Chris Hart
“I’d been sat behind for a few laps watching where he was weaker than us, and McLarens do eat their tyres a bit quicker than the Mercs. The Mercs aren’t great when they lose tyre temperature, I was just watching and praying he was going to make a mistake and unfortunately for him he ran a little wide. Blocked me the first time, but then made it through the second. After that I had to park it on the white line for about two laps to keep him behind me because the Artura has got more speed than us in a straight line - we’re better on the brakes. He made me work for that one!"
#13 Callum Davies
“I had a great start to the race, I got past the two GTO cars that were holding me up in the Sprint race and then pulled a massive gap and luckily the safety car came out so that really helped us because I was the only car that hadn’t been lapped by the leaders of the GT3 category so that gave us a big upper hand with a big lead. I boxed and Jon went out in the car and had a big lap so he could take it easier. The Artura is a great car, I’ve raced Ginettas this year and the Artura is a massive step up, I’ve had to learn quick with all the buttons and settings and get used to the Pirelli tyres but I think it’s going well!"
